Chapter 35 – Ring of Fire

Note: Chapter Title from Johnny Cash's song 'Ring of Fire'

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that's out of the way, let's begin…

Last time,

Hope frowns, nodding slowly. "Well, we have some of Jamie's old dresses I think, if Benni wants them."

"Yes, and a couple of her old Hogwarts uniforms. It's only the tie and coat that actually shows a house so they should work too," Lyall adds.

"I'm sure Benni would appreciate that a lot," Ginny says with a big smile.

Now,

"Harry?"

Harry looks up from the book he's reading to find Lucius in the library doorway, "Lord Malfoy, good morning."

"And you as well. You are reading about the Unforgivables," Lucius says, noticing the book, "What ever for?"

"I'm trying to find out why the killing curse doesn't work on me," Harry tells him, seeing no reason to lie when Lucius has seen it fail to kill him. "Hogwarts library including restricted section and the library at Grimmauld Place gave little information, I was hoping there might be more here."

"Hmm, well, it will have to wait. Your Father has ordered your presence at a meeting," Lucius tells him.

Harry rolls his eyes but moves to obey. They enter a boardroom to find only his Father in attendance for now. "You know you don't actually have to order me somewhere, you could just ask, I'm here willingly."

Tom looks up at his son for a moment, holding his gaze, then nods, "So noted." Others start filtering in, taking seats, including Greyback and Lillie. Tom nods for his Son to take the one at the other end of the table which he does.

"As you all know, we lost a great many of our children in recent days," Voldemort begins, Death Eaters around the table nod, Lucius looking at the table with a frown. "When we take control of the Wizarding World, they will have no choice but to return to us. To that end, I know we have been discussing what to do about Inimicus."

"Inimicus?" Lillie asks before her eyes widen as she realises she spoke, "Heh, sorry."

"Yes, Inimicus," Voldemort replies, confused.

Harry clears his throat, "She's been in India for eight years," He explains, pretending she does not know Inimicus in order to cover up the slip.

Voldemort nods, "Right, you can explain later."

"My Lord," Avery interjects earning a raised eyebrow that expresses interest but little patience. "We know that Inimicus works out of Hogwarts, perhaps it would be possible for Mr Potter to make contact, now that you've somehow turned him to our way of thinking."

"It's Riddle," Harry states sharply with narrowed eyes earning shocked looks and a smug smile from his father.

"Can you make contact?" Voldemort asks.

Harry inclines his head slightly, "I can try, but not until school is back. I've no idea who Inimicus is, but at school I can put some feelers out. He'll respond."

"What makes you so certain?" Corella Zabini asks, sounding unimpressed.

Harry smirks, "Can you think of a better ally to have within Hogwarts than 'The Boy Who Lived'? Inimicus has beef with Dumbledore, if he sees a chance to turn the Golden Boy against him, he'd be a fool not to take it, and Inimicus is no fool."

"You're already against Dumbledore," Lillie points out.

"Do you really think the Order is going to advertise that fact?" Harry poses, everyone seems curious where he is going with this. "The longer they can keep the Wizarding World thinking that I am on their side, the more stable their following will be. Or so they think."

"Right," Daphne Greengrass says, "Because Dumbledore doesn't realise how many people he's already lost. If you turn to Inimicus' side, 90% of Hogwarts students will as well, and their parents are losing faith in him quickly too."

"A child has sewn this much chaos in such a short amount of time?" Voldemort asks.

"He's smart, my Lord," Lucius says, "Of that, there is no doubt. If we can get him on our side before whatever his plan is comes to a head, we will win. Inimicus will make Dumbledore fall either way, but if we make some sort of deal or arrangement with Inimicus, we can come out on top as well."

"The problem will be convincing him," Daphne states.

"What do you mean?" Harry asks her.

"Well I don't know if you've noticed, Po-err-Riddle, but Inimicus helps people as much as he hurts. If you want Inimicus to give our cause any kind of chance, you'll have to convince him it's the right thing to do, and currently we haven't the slightest inkling of where he stands on any political or moral issue. All we know is he wants Dumbledore gone."

"What do you suggest, Miss Greengrass?" Voldemort asks, beginning to think he should have abandoned his old Death Eaters and just used the children from the start.

"I know a Reaper, that's what his followers call themselves. I can pass along the message that Harry wants to meet. He's right, he holds power and sway, the simple fact that you've got Harry on your side will go a long way to convince him. Afterall, Harry's spent every year at Hogwarts putting his life on the line to protect people. Everyone knows he'd never side with anyone intending more harm."

"Which does make one wonder what exactly he's doing here," Corella points out, "Did you give up your morals? What do you get out of this, Mr Potter?"

"Riddle," Harry specifies again, "And that's my business."

"Will the other children warn students of your switch in allegiances?" Lucius asks him.

"Won't matter if they do, but no they probably won't because it won't matter."

"Why will it not matter?" Another Death Eater asks.

"Hogwarts is like a separate planet," Vince states, "With everything that's been happening, sort of just given up."

"When shit hit the fan last year with Umbridge we all realised that the adult world doesn't care," Daphne explains, "If something's going on, Hogwarts has to deal with it ourselves, because no one from the outside is going to. Dumbledore, you, neutral, doesn't matter in there, all of that is left on Platform 9 ¾. Draco and Riddle are friends, Pansy and Mio are dating, Blaise and Lavender…I don't even want to think about. The separation between houses was given up on earlier in the year because what does any of it matter. If we're in danger again we'll have to band together anyway because we're alone to save ourselves in there."

"Those loyal to me, should always be loyal to me, in Hogwarts or not," Voldemort replies sternly. The older Death Eaters look worried for their children, but Daphne just sticks her chin up in the air.

"My Lord, I am loyal, but you have to understand that like Dumbledore has no influence on the student body anymore, neither do you. Your war is out here, we've got our own battles to fight in there and allegiance to you won't help. If we isolate ourselves from those loyal to Dumbledore because we are loyal to you, we'll be the first to die when the next crisis hits. And it will. It always does," Daphne tells him, "I'm a Slytherin, my Lord, my self-preservation is strong. Unless you are willing to step into Hogwarts to protect those loyal to you when things happen, this is how it has to be."

Voldemort is silent for a moment, "Then I suppose you had all best prove your worth outside of school. Contact this reaper friend of yours, skip Harrison entirely. Tell him I want to talk."

"It could take a few days to get to him. I don't know much of anything about their set up, but I do know that Inimicus is big cheese, and my friend is small time. I doubt they're in direct contact, My Lord," Daphne warns him, showing more respect now.

"Make it happen."


"Holy shit what is even happening over there?" Pansy asks incredulously as she reads the letter she's just gotten.

"Where?" Ginny asks as she paints Benni's fingernails.

"Erm…" Pansy trails off, looking at Little Benni.

Benni sighs, "Inimicus related?" She guesses.

Pansy's eyes widen, "You're a reaper?" Benni nods. "I'm on recruitment, how was I not informed about this?"

"Beeecause we were captured for days almost immediately afterward?" Ginny replies.

"Right, well, yeah there's that," Pansy says before she sighs, "One of the groups I'm direct contact for informed me that they've been informed by one of the smaller groups that Voldemort is looking to meet Inimicus."

"How did we go from just about to implement the great ineffable plan to scrambling to maintain any semblance of control in just over a week?" Ginny asks irately.

"You were captured for days and we missed our opportune moment and also the casual corpse and now we have to hope that Inimicus is able to pull the reins and get us back on track," Pansy replies.

"Please, talk about this louder, I don't think Australia heard you," Blaise reprimands as he enters the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Oops," Ginny comments, cringing slightly at how reckless that conversation had been.

"And as for Inimicus, we've got new Orders," Blaise tells them in a significantly quieter voice than the others had been using, holding up his, now blank, parchment.

"Hold on, let me pass on a message," Pansy requests.

I'm assuming you are aware, but I just got word that Voldemort is looking to meet you

Addens

"All right, what's up?"

"I think he's going for a bigger result than he was before," Blaise tells them.

"Probably time spent with his father," Ginny mutters.

"Right, anyway, He wants us to go ahead with the spell to get Severus to see his vision again. Apparently, all but one of the ingredients is hidden here and the last we can get from here. That's it for you lot," Blaise explains.

"What's the last ingredient?" Pansy asks him.

"Don't know, apparently Draco will."

"There's such a thing as too much delegation, I'm sure," Ginny suggests with a huff.

"Just get the potion ready. A whole bunch of things are happening at once and I think everything is about to come to a head. We can't afford to fall behind, unless you would like to explain to him why we haven't carried out our orders?" Pansy shakes her head, Ginny and Benni then do too. "Then get to work," Blaise tells them before he walks out, going to find Severus.


Severus looks up at his pseudo-son when Blaise enters his bedroom. "Blaise, what can I-"

"Orders," Blaise replies quietly, "Polyjuice potion from the attic at school, give it to George, tell him to leave it at the dropsite," He says before walking away.

Severus goes and does so while Blaise carries out his own orders and writes a letter to the Minister, beginning to build a friendship with the man under the guise of a school project and wanting to go into politics.


That night, after dinner, Voldemort walks into his office, his son beside him, to find a man dressed in black sitting in his seat behind his desk.

"Lord Voldemort, I assume?" comes a garbled voice from behind the mask he wears.

Voldemort raises his head slightly at the audacity of this teenager, "Inimicus."

"…I'm gonna go," Harry says from beside him before he backs out of the door and leaves.

"I hear you've been looking for me," Inimicus tells him.

"Indeed, I have. You've created quite the stir, for a child."

Inimicus nods slightly, "Who exactly is it that I am speaking with? Tom Riddle, Roana Gaunt?" Voldemort has to admit, internally at least, that he's impressed the child was able to gain that much information. "Or perhaps it is Ariana herself."

Voldemort's eyes narrow to slits. Or…smaller slits, I guess. "I trust you don't intend to reveal that information to anyone."

"That trust would be misplaced," Inimicus tells him, "I intend to do exactly that once everything is in place. After all, you are the most hated and feared man in the wizarding World. If I can pin you on Dumbledore, bye bye Headmaster."

"Why are you doing this? What is your goal?"

Inimicus takes a moment to think about this, "There is a mirror in Hogwarts that shows you your heart's innermost desire," He says, "I could have had mine, but he took it from me. There's not a person in Hogwarts who hasn't lost something to the wars he starts, the enemies he creates. He needs to be stopped and no one else was managing it, so I thought I'd take a crack at it. Seems like it was what I was born to do."

"And when it's done?"

"A new world," Inimicus replies, "A better one."

"How exactly are you going to manage that?" Voldemort asks as though he were dealing with some pesky child.

Inimicus chuckles, "Well you know what they say, our children are our future. I merely intend to have us shape the world a little sooner than expected. What is it you intend to achieve?"

Voldemort looks at him in poorly disguised shock, "I'm going to kill Dumbledore and take over the world. Rid the world of Muggle-scum, and bring the Wizarding World into a newer, purer, age."

"It's funny how you speak of purity. You seem to be the only mutation around, Lord Voldemort."

"Surely there is a way we can benefit each other, we have the same goal," Voldemort justifies, "A new world."

"I'm aiming for peace, Lord Voldemort, and you are not peace." With that, Inimicus turns and walks out the door, then straight out the front door of the house, and disappears.

A mere moment later, Harry walks up behind him. "So? How did it go?"

"Just cannot handle unsatiated curiosity," Lucius comments from where he is beside him.

Voldemort chuckles slightly at that as he turns to them both. "We need to cut him down before he kills Dumbledore."

"My Lord?" Lucius asks him in shock, "Why?"

"Because if we don't, we're next." He thinks for a moment, then tells Lucius, "Have two lower level grunts go kill a few people, have them claim it is done in Inimicus' name."


The two grunts go and do as told. "We do this by order of Inimicus!" They tell the crowd of people who have gathered around the burning house, looking terrified.

One teenager walks forward and scoffs, "Oh, you do not. Inimicus isn't this bloody sloppy."

"Excuse you?"

A grown man from the other side of the crowd walks forth and pulls up one of their sleeves, revealing the Dark Mark. "Figures. Everybody knows Inimicus would never work with scum like Voldemort."

The teenager walks forth again, "Give up, go home, tell your Lord you failed."

"We still killed the targets!"

"No," Someone says, walking towards him as they push through the crowd, "You failed at that too. We got them out, they're on their way to the hospital to treat burns and smoke inhalation. They're going to be fine."

The Death Eaters turn to look at the person and find them to be wearing a mask.

"And who are you supposed to be?"

"I am Amans, second to Inimicus. He doesn't appreciate attempted murder in his name."

"And what are you going to do about it?"

"Me? Nothing. Metum, on the other hand…"

"Who?" one of the Death Eaters ask. Amans points behind them and they turn to see a terrifying mask of black and death.

"Tell your Master he has one last chance to stay out of Inimicus' way. If he doesn't, he'll be removed from our way," Amans tells them. Metum walks around, puts a hand on Amans, and they both disappear. The crowd dissipates, finding no threat in the Death Eaters.


"An adult!" Voldemort looks up, unimpressed by the interruption to his planning with Lucius. He finds the Death Eaters sent to incriminate Inimicus. "Inimicus, he has adults working for him too. We saw one of them there tonight, and we met Inimicus' second."

"His second?" Voldemort asks, growing interested.

"They saved the muggle-born we were sent to kill, they cleared Inimicus' name of the attack, and revealed our Dark Marks. They know it was you. One of the neighbours said your name and a teenager, she ridiculed you. The young no longer fear you, Master. Inimicus' second had a message for you, that you have one chance to get out of their way or they'll remove you from it."

"This second, do they have a name?"

The Death Eater nods, "Called himself Amans."

"Good. Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort casts twice, killing both Death Eaters.

Lucius clears his throat, "My Lord, we need to act in some way, or we'll lose what influence we have."

"Indeed."


Remus sneaks into the room he shares in the Fortress with Sirius, quietly getting ready for bed and slipping in beside him.

"Moons?" Sirius asks sleepily as he turns over, throwing an arm across Remus' chest.

"Hey love, go back to sleep," Remus replies, kissing Sirius' head before snuggling in with him. He falls asleep, wondering how long he can keep his happiness this time, and dreading the moment Sirius finds out the truth. Dreading the moment he's dragged back into a fight he wants nothing to do with.

"Why are you so afraid of this war?" Bellatrix asks. Remus sighs, tired of these emotionally draining dreams. "Are you afraid of what they'll do?"

Remus shakes his head, "No, I'm afraid of what I'll do." Bellatrix looks at him in confusion, Remus sighs, "Back then I wasn't afraid to do whatever it took to make it end and that got turned around on me so very easily. I…I can't be what I was and what if this war makes me?" He asks, looking at his hands as they shake.

Bellatrix nods, walking over and kneeling down on the grass beside him, taking his hands. "No war or curse or bite made you like that, Remus, it's just who you are. A tad ruthless, maybe even a little bloodthirsty, but a brave and good man. Don't let them take that from you."

Remus wakes up, the only time he's woken up from one of these dreams about Bellatrix and hasn't immediately had an emotional breakdown. He stares at the ceiling, he's not sure how long for, until Sirius wakes up, rolls over, and notices him staring blankly upwards.

"Remus?"

Remus looks at him and sighs, "I don't want to be afraid anymore, Pads. I don't want to be afraid of myself."

Sirius nods slightly, then he sits up in bed. "Come with me, there's someone I want you to know."

Ten minutes later the two are walking through a park, "Out of curiosity, I once asked Moody what happened to the Death Eaters we obliviated in 5th year. Apparently, their magic was binded and they were sent to live out the rest of their lives as Muggles, no true punishment forced upon them. Like you said at the time, without their memories, they were blank slates, and innocent."

"What's your point, Padfoot?" Remus asks as he stops moving in front of a building at the end of the park.

"One of them opened this place up. It's a childcare centre for children with disabilities. All their proceeds that aren't used for maintenance or paying staff is sent one of two places. Either to a charity that helps parents with disabled children pay for care or extra help or wheelchairs when necessary, medical bills, that sort of thing. Or it goes to a medical centre that specialises in cases of amnesia. They do a lot of Research into the causes and possible cures to amnesia," Sirius tells him. Remus smiles sadly at the building. Sirius turns his face to look at a playground nearby where the children of the childcare are playing on equipment designed for those that would struggle on standard play equipment, ensuring all the children can have fun and enjoy themselves. "That man over there, goes by Roger now. You gave him a second chance at life and look what he's done with it? If not for you he could be dead, or he might've ended up in Azkaban as well. Instead he's helping people. You look at that day and see only the battle. You forget everything else. You forget that we used almost exclusively defensive spells and potions, aside from the obliviate. You forget that we spent ages beforehand deciding what to do with them so that they would be okay afterwards. You forget that we were only out there to begin with because students were in danger and you wanted to protect them."

Remus nods slowly, "Thank you, Sirius."

Sirius smiles lovingly at him, "Anytime."


"Harrison, where have you been?" Tom asks his son as Harry walks in the front door of the manor.

"Checking in on the kid you didn't want," Harry replies, "And it's Harry."

"You're who Delphini ended up with?" Lucius asks in confusion as he walks in as well.

"I get the feeling she was passed through a few people before ending up with me. I'm quite convinced that the person who asked me to find a safe place for her has no idea whose child she is."

"Where is she?" Voldemort asks.

Harry shakes his head, "Safe."

Voldemort sighs, "Very well. I have a task for you."

"Which is?" Harry asks obediently, knowing he'll have to be useful in someway if he wants information about what they're up to.

"I want to question the Weasley girl. Bring her to me."

Harry raises an eyebrow, "How? We've no idea where the Order is hiding and, after what just happened, no way will she be allowed anywhere on her own."

"Cause a distraction, lure her out, I don't much care, Harrison, just get it done, you have two days."

"What information could she possibly kno-"

Voldemort holds up a hand to cut him off, "Matters of the cause will not be scrutinised by your never-ending curiosity, understood?" He asks sharply.

Harry stares at him for a moment, clearly biting back several unfriendly comments before his gaze seems to soften, slightly, to the confusion of Voldemort. Then a steely resolve as he nods, "Yes, Father."

"Also, there is someone I would like for you to meet," Voldemort tells him. He gestures behind Harry to where a large snake is curled up. "This is Nagini."

Nagini lifts her head, looking over at the boy. Harry makes eye contact, some kind of uncomfortable feeling going through him that he can't quite explain. "Hello," Harry greets.

Nagini's tongue flicks out. "Young Riddle. Your Father has asked me to keep you from dying. Will that be as difficult as he seems to think?"

Harry huffs, "I've kept myself alive so far," Harry points out.

The snake seems amused as she nods, "This is good to hear."


Later that night, Lucius knocks on Harry's bedroom door and enters when told.

"Lord Malfoy?"

Lucius nods, walking in and sighing slightly, "I came to…apologise." Harry raises an inquisitive eyebrow but says nothing. Lucius continues on his own, "My Lord asked me who you are close with at school, I thought he was curious about his son, I did not expect my answer to be used in a test of your loyalty."

"I know he is testing me, why this? Why not have me kill her? Surely that would be the ultimate test."

Lucius nods again, "He knows you would not do it." Harry frowns in confusion. "He does not wish to push you away."

Harry looks down at his hands for a moment before he gets back up and paces, "Everyone I have ever had in my life…they lied to me for so long. Father is all I have left now, I don't want to push him away either. I didn't…exactly intend to join him. I just saw the spell and…I didn't want him to die. After I saved him I knew I'd never be trusted by them again. The moment I decided to stay here and help you all and be with him…" Harry trails off, stopping his pacing and looking up at Lucius, "It was like the world wasn't depending on me anymore, like I'd quit, like I'd finally made a decision for myself and taken control of my own life." Harry shrugs, "Being here just means I'm taking orders from a different general. Which I knew would be the case, I just wasn't expecting the Orders to be this difficult to carry out against people I…don't really want to see outside of school anyway."

"Severus mentioned that, despite your clear happiness when you were first reunited after his supposed death, you've been distancing yourself from Sirius, quite a bit."

Harry shrugs, seeming vulnerable for a moment because he knows the next thing out of his mouth will be near the only truth spoken in this whole conversation on his part. "He never intended to tell me the truth, he didn't want me. Father did." Harry debates with himself for a moment before deciding to continue, "Father told me earlier this year that we'd be together, that we would make a home. I don't want to be stuck with people who don't want me around just like I have been for my entire life."

Lucius is silent for a moment, quite sure that no one on the other-side had realised how much of his issues with accepting his new-found family come from Dursley related insecurities. "I am glad you are here, for your Father's sake if nothing else. I want him to be happy. But you should know, Harry, that your Mum and Dad would do anything for you."

Harry nods while pursing his lips, "Except be with me, apparently."

"I can't speak to that, all I can say is that, while I may not know what it is, I do know that your parents would only have stayed away from you if they had real and strong reason to believe that was your best chance."

"That's a nice thought," Harry says, real sadness in his eyes, "But I don't know how to believe it." Then he shakes himself off, "Regarding Ginny, I have an idea."